


Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride

by Duck_Life



Series: X-Men Shorties [4]
Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 09:18:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17505851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: Watching Illyana react to Kitty's would-be wedding reminds Ororo painfully of herself.





	Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride

Once upon a time, there were two women who could fly, and the world came between them.

* * *

Illyana sips her coffee and stares levelly across the table at Ororo. This is not  _ her _ Ororo, strange as that sounds, but she is still Ororo. “Look, I know I’m a bastard,” she says. “And selfish, and stupid. But I had to say  _ something _ to Kitty that night. I just couldn’t live with myself if I let her go without… without saying  _ something _ .”

Ororo watches her, sympathy and understanding chief among the emotions on her face. “Illyana—”

“I didn’t think it would change anything,” Illyana says quickly. “If I did, I don’t know, maybe I would have kept quiet. I didn’t know she would run. Piotr’s my big brother, Ororo, you know I didn’t want him to get hurt.”

“Of course not.”

“I just… do you have any idea what it’s like? To watch the woman you love walk down the aisle and know that she can’t be yours?” 

Ororo is quiet for so long that Illyana isn’t expecting a response, and then quietly, Ororo says, “Yes.”

* * *

The next time all the ladies go out together is strange. It’s kind of an anti-bachelorette party, a weird little “you didn’t get married but let’s go dancing anyway” celebration. Rogue is, of course, on her space honeymoon, but Ororo and Rachel and Jean are there, along with Kitty, of course, and Betsy, Jubilation, Lorna, Monet, Xi’an and Dani.

Ororo dances with Jean to some loud Donna Summer song, each of them sipping rum-and-Cokes and grinning. When the music shifts to something slower, Jean doesn’t move away, just slides into a slower sort of dance with Ororo, her hands around her friend’s waist, swaying from side to side.

“Jean,” Ororo says, “before you got married… before you died… did you ever think about you and me?” She’s not one for postponing tough conversations, and the dance floor is as good as any a place to talk. 

Jean tilts her head thoughtfully. “You mean outside of the night of Misty’s infamous eggnog when we kissed under the mistletoe?”

“Yes.”

“Yes,” Jean says. Ororo’s eyes widen. “Does that surprise you?” 

“I just… but you had Scott,” Ororo says. The two of them dance together, an ever-shrinking eddy of movement. 

Jean smiles. “And you had Logan, and Yukio, and Stevie. Are you saying you didn’t think about me?” 

Ororo smirks. “As I recall, you also ‘had Logan.’”

“God, I know,” Jean sighs. “Are we fast?”

“Are you asking if we’re slutty?”

“Ororo!” Jean admonishes, looking scandalized. Ororo laughs, tossing her head so the disco lights bounce of her neck. Jean realizes with a jolt that she’s wearing body glitter— Jubilee must’ve gotten to her. 

A slower song comes on but they don’t part ways, just dance closer and closer to each other. Jean’s hands twine up around Ororo’s neck and Ororo finds a loose hold on Jean’s waist as they sway back and forth. 

Most of the other women flock to the bar (except for Xi’an and Dani, who have started making out quietly in the corner). 

“So,” Ororo says, her mouth near Jean’s ear, “after you got married, after you died… now that you’re back… do you ever think about you and me?” 

The music playing is soft and sweet, a love ballad almost out of place at a bar like this on Saturday night. (If Karma’s “influencing” the DJ, no one calls her out on it.) Jean and Ororo have shifted so their hands are tangled together. Ororo’s chin just barely clears the top of Jean’s head, so Jean has to stand on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to Ororo’s lips.

She’s quick, kissing her and then pulling back to gauge Ororo’s reaction. The other woman stops dancing, smiles, and then responds exuberantly. Ororo leans down and locks lips with Jean, nearly lifting her off the floor in her joy. 

Once upon a time, Ororo Munroe watched her best friend get married, and she threw handfuls of rice and waved her goodbye. 

Tonight she gets a second chance. 


End file.
